Monaco does not feature on the 2013 GP3 calendar but Abu Dhabi does. It will be the series’ first venture outside of Europe. However it does mean a wait of almost two months between the penultimate and final double-header races.

A ‘TBA’ round is dated for the weekend of June 14th-16th. As with the GP2 calendar released earlier today, they expect to be racing at the Nurburgring on 5th-7th July.

I feel it’s either going to be like having a disjointed finale, or it could be that it turns out to be a really anticipated, and tense, wait if the championship is set up with multiple drivers who can still win it.

I find it pretty ridiculous that they’be decided to have a two month break before the final round at Yas Marina. This probably has to do with things like sponsors, perhaps the young drivers’ test. But still, that is no excuse for letting these drivers wait for two months.

@the_sigman
Yes there was that one horrid crash but wasn’t that because someone was allowed to race with no rear wing. That could happen at any track but shouldn’t anywhere.
Agree the long wait for the finale is ludicrous.

It’s most likely logistical reasons, trying to fit that many support races as well as the f1 teams over one weekend would be a nightmare

I would say so, too. In addition to Formula 1, GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5 both hold races there. I remember one mechanic from Force India saying that they basically park all of their non-essential gear in France for the Monaco weekend, and commute back to it to get anything they need (which means repairs for accidents in practice and/or qualifying can take a very long time). I can’t imagine how GP2, GP3 and FR3.5 managed it last year.

Agree the long wait for the finale is ludicrous.

It’s probably there because the organisers want a full eight rounds of the championship, but they won’t be going to Valencia next year because there is no European Grand Prix. So they needed to find an eighth round, and had to settle for a flyaway race. In an effort to keep costs down, they’ve gone to Abu Dhabi because geographically it’s the closest race to Europe once the championship finishes up the European season. So while they’ve succeeded in keeping the calendar full and costs to a minimum, the downside is that the championship has to wait two months for its finale.

However, I wonder if they might be interested in changing it if Bernie secures a twentieth round at the Red Bull Ring or Istanbul Park.

It’d be cool to see them use the Istanbul circuit. I always loved that track, and now that F1 is not using it, it’s probably just been collecting dust, right?

Only saw one GP3 race last year but it was amazingly entertaining. I believe it was the Spa round that I saw, since I remember seeing some cool bump-drafting (I thought they were just gonna crash, but apparently it’s a cool tactic I’ve never seen with open-wheel cars).